ARDMORE, Pa. — On the morning of June 17 at the 1989 U.S. Open, Curtis Strange was leading after 36 holes. That didn’t seem like too big of a deal ... until he opened his hotel door and picked up the newspaper.

He scanned through the story about his second round until his eye caught something. The writer had thrown in a piece of history that Strange didn’t know. Someone dared to wonder if he could win another U.S. Open championship — if he could be the first man to do it since ... Ben Hogan?!

"I said, ‘What’s this mean?’ " Strange recalled recently. "I didn’t have a clue. There hadn’t been one thing written about it. Then, after the third round, I was three back and they said, ‘Oh, well he’s done.’ Then I won it on Sunday and the next thing you know Ben Hogan and Curtis Strange are linked in history."

And it has remained that way.

For 23 years, Strange’s name has been the last one on a very select list: repeat winners at the U.S. Open. Six men have done it in the 112-year history of the championship. None, though, since Strange completed the repeat at Oak Hill Country Club almost a quarter-century ago. Curiously, over that time there have been repeat winners at ever major championship except the U.S. Open.

Is it the changing of the venues? Is it the setup of the golf courses? The depth of the field? Demands on time? Depending on whom you talk to, it’s a combination of all of those factors.

"I think it’s different venues and different course setups every year," 2011 winner Rory McIlroy said. "Because you look at somewhere like last year, Olympic (Club) — it’s firm, it’s fast, it’s very tricky. You come to somewhere like this year, it could have played like that, but it’s not going to. It’s going to be wet and it’s going to be (like) we played Bethpage in 2009 and it was wet and soggy."

Every player who has won the U.S. Open agrees that it is one of the most difficult tests in golf.

The courses are usually long and demanding, the conditions firm and fast, the fairways narrow and the rough high. But since Strange last captured the repeat, favorites have won (Tiger Woods at Bethpage Black in 2002) and surprise winners have emerged (Steve Jones in 1996, Lucas Glover in 2009).

Moreover, some of the best players golf has seen over that stretch have won a U.S. Open multiple times since 1989. Woods has won thrice, and Payne Stewart, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen twice at the Open since Strange — but none in successive years.

"It’s very difficult to win tournaments these days," 2010 champion Graeme McDowell said . "There’s so much talent, so much ability out there. It’s just difficult to win, let alone win majors. And very difficult to repeat. It’s a big task and no surprise it hasn’t been done for a while. And obviously Webb is the only man with a chance to do it this week — and he’s a great player, so I wish him well."

As McDowell mentioned the name of the defending champion this week at Merion — Webb Simpson — he gave a smirk. In 2011 at Congressional, McDowell attempted to repeat, but finished 14 strokes behind McIlroy.

"It doesn’t surprise me," Simpson said when informed the repeat drought is holding at 23 years. "The biggest factor is the courses change every year. They’re at a different venue. Merion is a totally different type of golf course than Olympic. So you might show up at a golf course one year — for example, I think short hitters have a lot better chance of winning this tournament this year than some of the longer courses."

But the last man to do it thinks there’s simply that much more to do for the defending champion these days.

When Strange won at Oak Hill, he walked off the 18th hole did a brief television interview and then waited to see if he was summoned into the media center. He did a small interview session before the tournament began and then went and played. There was no parade around to Golf Channel, ESPN and other functions as the returning winner.

"It’s 24-7 now," said Strange, who will work the U.S. Open this week as an analyst for ESPN. "That just adds to the pressure. It’s your time. As much as you don’t want to think about a lot of subjects while you’re playing golf, you’re always getting asked about them now, so you have to think about them."

Strange believes that at some point his run as the last man to do it will end.

He is quick to point out it took almost 40 years for Hogan’s feat to be duplicated.

"I’m like the Miami Dolphins of golf," Strange said laughing. "But whoever does it, my first phone call will be to them because it’s a special thing."